


A Queen's Duty

by Kimyonaelio



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cardverse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 12:21:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12058899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kimyonaelio/pseuds/Kimyonaelio
Summary: The Queen and King of Spades was just going to have a romantic dinner, but that was not what they got.





	A Queen's Duty

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little something based of lolo-loco 's art on Tumblr. Go check them out!!  
> And a Extreamly big thank you to my Beta reader Rin!

It was quiet in the study, only the sound of a fountain pen writing on parchment could be heard. If one listened really closely a faint hum and a small curse would break the peace on several occasions, but no one would be surprised, the Queen had a rather foul mouth after all. On more than one occurrence this habit of his had gotten the country in a pinch, but it usually got resolved after the King talked some sense in the Queen who would, very reluctantly, apologise to whomever had been on the receiving end of his inappropriate words.

A new sound reached the Queen's ears, three deep, but in the silence, sonorous knocks.

“Come in,” the Queen said, trying not to show irritation on his voice.

The door slammed open accompanied with a happy cry.

“Artie! you're back!!”

“It is Arthur, your highness,” the Queen answered without lifting his eyes from the papers in front of him.

“Aaw, are you still mad about yesterday?” the King asked, a pout now taking over his beautiful features.

“No, why would you think that?” the Queen anwsered, still not averting his gaze from his work.

“Because you called me ‘your highness’ and you only do that when you are mad.”

Silence.

“Listen, I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you!” the King tried.

Finally putting down his pen and looking up into the King's blue eyes the Queen replied with a serious tone.

“You missed our wedding anniversary, there is nothing you can do to make it up to me, Alfred.”

“I know, I know. Just… Please have dinner with me tonight. I know I have been busy lately so please” the King begged “I'll even cook it myself!” He added as a last try in persuade the Queen.

The Queen pressed his lips into a tight line and looked over his husband, trying to find signs of any implications.

“Fine, but it better be a good bloody meal or you are sleeping on the couch for a month” he finally replied. Joy spread through the King’s body and his whole face lit up like a sun. He fist bumped the air and the Queen started to already regret his decision, shook his head and got back to work. Before the pen even touched the parchment however, the King started talking again.

“Where were you earlier? I came here four times and you weren't here any of them!!”

“I was away for one and a half hour, reading in the garden” the Queen said, annoyed.

“But you've been away like that for weeks, months even!”

“Yes Alfred, it is something I do every day as I find it calming and soothing in our hectic days.”

“Oh... I see.”

Looking up again the Queen realised the King wasn't going to move and sighed.

“You have more work to do, I am not accepting that you can't make it tonight because you weren't done.”

“But it's boring! I'd rather stay here” the King grinned. A glare from the Queen made the earlier pout come back and he surrendered.

“Fine” he said, drawing out the i “Meet me in the dining hall at six o’clock.” He turned around and walked away.

“Close the bloody door after you!” the Queen shouted but too late as The King was already too far away to hear. Or he just ignored it. The Queen got up to close it but the Jack, Yao, entered.

“Your Majesty, there is something we need to discuss, aru” the rather short, brown haired man said and closed the door.

 

          *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

As evening came The Queen went to his quarters to change into something more appropriate for a _late_ anniversary dinner. After rummaging through his closet he found what he was looking for: a white dress shirt, a blue vest, light brown pants, brown boots and a blue coat. To top it all off, he also put on a big white bow around his neck and a blue small top hat with a white sash around its base angled a bit on the side of his head. With one last look in the mirror he took his usual white short gloves and left for the dining hall.

 

It was quiet again, only Arthur's’ footsteps echoed through the castle. It was strange, it nagged at the back of his head but he refused to worry now, he was going to have a wonderful evening with his husband and he would not let anything get in the way, especially not his paranoia.

Growing up in the castle had its pros and cons and the paranoia was one of those cons.

In the Kingdom of Spades the successors to the King and Queen wasn’t decided by who their firstborn was but rather who had the mark. The future rulers and their Jack had an upside down heart with a triangle at the bottom, the symbol of spades, on their wrist. The size of it decided which role one had been tasked with, the King had the biggest, the Queen a bit smaller and the smallest one was the Jack. It was very rare that two from the same family entered the Royal court without the pass of three generations. The Prince and Princess, which was the titles of the Queen and King’s inheritors, moved to the palace at the age of ten to start their education. Arthur and Alfred were a bit special though. Arthur was the son of the previous King and Queen and had started his lessons at the age of five which resulted in him also learning about the King's duties. Alfred, on the other hand, had been a traveler and wasn’t found until five and a half years ago, at the age of eighteen. This was a problem since the late King had been dead for 5 years, assassinated during Arthur's 15th birthday celebration. The Queen and the Princess had worked double to manage everything in the absence of a Prince. It didn't take long however, before the Queen had been bedridden due to stress and Arthur had taken the full work load for three years before Alfred arrived.

Arthur shook his head, no point in thinking about that now. He had put up three different types of entrance wards at every secret door that led into the castle and a charm that would notify him if anyone was to come through. The known doors had guards guarding them so no one would get in that way either. He would know if someone broke in… Right? There was always a possibility. Trying to get away from the uncomfortable silence he hurried his steps.

He opened the beautifully carved, massive oak doors that lead to the dining hall. The sight he was met with was not what he was expecting, in fact it was just as normal. So much for making up for a missed anniversary. Alfred wasn’t even there. The only thing out of the ordinary was five lit candles in a half circle on the long table. He walked over, careful so Alfred wouldn’t jump out from behind a curtain, but he got to the table without any trouble. In the middle of the half circle of candles, he found a note.

 

 _Hey Artie!!_ _  
_ _So I thought dining in the hall would be a bit boring so I’ve hidden. Here is a clue as to where I am, come find me ;)_

_During the day this place is always warm, and I might spend more time there than I ought. Go chat with the lovely staff and they might tell you my path._

 

Arthur knitted his eyebrows togrther but couldn’t help the smile gracing his lips, Alfred had remembered. Now where do Alfred spend more time than he ought to? It was obvious, the kitchen.

The kitchen was just a room away from the dining room and as soon as Arthur opened the door he understood what Alfred meant with it being warm. The stoves were on full and it was as busy as ever, servants were running all around obeying every order the chef shouted. When Arthur entered however, they all slowed down. The King regularly visited but the Queen… Usually that meant disaster and the Queen had learned to stay away. Without being bothered by the change in atmosphere he walked inside and over to the still shouting young man in front of the stoves that was the Chef, Leon.

“Chef Leon”  the Queen said to get his attention. It worked and he looked up.

“Your Majesty, is there something I can do for you?”

“Yes, have you seen the King?”

“He was here earlier today, told me to give you something, wait here.” As he went to get whatever it was, the Queen looked at the pots and pans in front of him. He did have the urge to bake something but he knew he shouldn’t, he had learned he had no cooking skills whatsoever when he was a child and had set fire to the kitchen on five different occasions. After that he had been banned from even touching anything in there.

“Don’t even think about it” Leon interrupted his thoughts. He held out a straw basket which the Queen took.

“You didn’t even work here when it happened.” the Queen sounded offended.

“No, but they warned me, and you are not destroying this kitchen.”

“Fine” the Queen sighed and looked in the basket for the first time. In it lay a bottle of cold champagne and a piece of paper.

“Well I have to go, thank you for this” He held up the basket and Leon nodded before turning around at the sound of a pot hitting the ground.  
“Idiot! Clean that up while I’ll start on a new one!” He shouted and sprinted away to get ingredients. The Queen turned away from the chaos and exited through the same door he entered though. In the small room outside, that only served as to cut out the sound from the kitchen, he took up the note to find out where to go next.

 

_Yeay! You found me! Well, one step closer at least._

_Now, Fun and games belongs elsewhere, for in this room with pens and papers more serious things adhere._

 

The Queen looked confused at the note, that one was actually good, had he gotten help to come up with it? He thought about it for a moment but then decided to just appreciate the effort. Putting back the note in the basket together with the first one he walked to his study, which he guessed was where to go.

It was just as he left it, every book in the shelf, the papers in a tidy pile on the left and his pen on the right. No, wait his pen wasn’t there, instead there was a beautiful empty gold frame with a note stuck in the left bottom corner. Was it really that easy? He took the note and read it.

 

 _One more item acquired, good work! So I tried the riddle thing and it didn’t work out so I’m just going to send you one more place before saying where I am and screw riddles._ _  
_ _Go get your favourite book and meet me in the garden._

 

The Queen laughed, riddles took some time to come up with and he knew the King didn’t have the patience for it, but it was quite fun and he was surprised the King had managed to come up with two of them. He took a handkerchief he had when he worked, put it around the picture frame and put it in the basket. Now his favourite book was a bit harder, there were so many! How could he possibly choose just one? He started to walk toward the library as he pondered. There was all of Shakespeare’s works, or Jane Austen but he couldn't ignore Harry Potter or the Grimm brothers’ stories.

He arrived in the library faster than expected and looked up at the two stories of almost filled 3 meter tall bookcases. He loved it in here, the smell of the books, the light from the glass ceiling and the feeling of utter peace. He placed his left hand on the first book and stroked the back while reading the name before going to the next one. Every book was in order, first sorted alphabetically by the author's last name, than alphabetically by the title name with the exception of when it was a series, in which case it was sorted in reading order. He walked around, reading title after title but not really finding what he was looking for. More than twenty minutes after deciding to start from A he stopped with his hand on Barrie, J.M. He took out the book and smiled fondly, memories from his childhood washing over him. Memories of him picking this book almost every night as good night story, finding comfort in the familiar characters when he was sad and sneaking away from his studies at times just to say hello to them. Peter Pan. He stroked the book while walking down the staircase in the middle of the library. The basket, which he had put down by the bottom of the stairs on his way up to the second floor, he picked up with his left hand when he got back down. He didn't want to put the book in it in case it got a scratch but when he came to the door he had to, as he had no hand to open the door with. He was careful when he placed it next to the wrapped frame but still worried.

 

As soon as he had walked through the door he picked it up again and after a couple of turns he came to the big double glass doors that led to the back balcony and garden of the castle. He opened them and was overwhelmed by all the sounds. Birds chirping, the water in the fountain splashing, the wind blowing through trees and bushes and crickets playing. He stepped out, his steps on the stone adding to the symphony, the breeze rustling his hair and flowers trying to charm him with their scents. At the end of the balcony,  near where stone became grass sat the King on a purple blanket, set with champagne glasses, plates covered with metal dome, to keep the food warm, and cutlery.

 

As the Queen drew closer he could see that the King looked a bit gloomy but when he turned around his face lit up.

“Artie, I didn't think you would come!” He stood, giving the Queen a full view of his outfit. He wore a similar outfit to the Queen but the coat was a lighter shade of blue and a bit different in design and instead of the white bow the Queen had, the King had a dark blue tie. He also wore a broadsword in a scabbard on his left hip, making it easy for him to draw it with his right hand.

“Of course I would come. You just gave me a rather hard quest” the Queen answered and held up the book. They hugged as the Queen got to the blanket.

“Which one did you pick?” the King asked as he offered his hand to help his Queen. The Queen stubbornly refused and rather gracefully sat down on the blanket, putting down the basket and book next to himself before answering.

“Peter Pan, but you already guessed that, seeing as you made a sort of treasure map for me.”

“You said you loved playing pirate and detective as a child and I thought why not combine them! What did you think about it?”

“It was absolutely fantastic, you couldn't have started it better. However I do wonder what we are going to eat” he said and gestured to the plates in front of them. A twinkle appeared in the King’s eyes and he dramatically said

“May I present the most exquisite food you will ever get to taste” and he took off the cloche of the Queen's plate. Under it was a greyish white glob, which the Queen couldn’t quite say what it was, with some sort of meat on top.

“Mushroom risotto with pesto filled chicken filet” the King smiled as he saw the Queen's confused face. Realization dawned on the Queen but quickly went on to skepticism as he was not certain he wanted to taste it.

“Are you sure? It looks rather… distasteful.”

“Hey, that’s not nice! I mean sure, it doesn’t look the best but it tastes great. Even Chef said it did!” The King answered with a pout.

“I guess I'll have to taste it in that case.” He picked up the silver fork, took up a bit and tasted it. The King watched in anticipation for the Queen's judgement. After what felt like ages the Queen finally nodded.

“It does taste a lot better than it looks.”

“Really?!” the King almost shouted in enthusiasm, bouncing up and down.

“Yes” was all the Queen said before taking another bite. The King mimicked the Queen and they ate in comfortable silence. After twenty minutes however the King couldn't keep quiet any longer.

“Sooo, there's something I've been wanting to ask you…” he fumbled and the Queen raised an eyebrow. “Well, these past years I've learned a lot and I mostly know what to do. Yao’ve been a great help. And of course you have but… What exactly is it that you do? I know you work really hard, I just never understood with what…” he continued and looked uncertainly at the Queen who looked thoughtful.

“The Queen doesn't have a lot of duties. However, I  still manage some of the King's responsibilities  due to our circumstances.” He said after a minute and continued. “I manage education throughout the country, making sure all children get to learn how to write and read, I manage the economy, making sure we don't spend more money on infrastructure or repairs, than we can afford. Outside of this I have a network of people, spies if you like, keeping me informed on what's going on both in Spades and other countries…” Now he looked a bit uncertain, not knowing if he should continue or not. The King's curious face managed to get him to keep going. “There is however something very very few know about and that is what the most important duty of a Queen is…” He got a distant look in his eyes and looked away.

“And that is… what? the King tried but the Queen held up a hand.

“Quiet”

“Wha-”

“Shh. Someone is coming” The Queen stood up and the King followed.

“You sure?”

“Yes, they entered through the northeast passageway,” he said before hurrying toward the castle, addressing the men posted at either side of the balcony door. “Guards, be prepared, someone is coming. I can't tell much about the person but approximately 195 cm in height.” The King followed, listening to the the Queen’s words, his sword out of its scabbard, ready to fight. They got in position with the two guards at the front, then the King and at the back, the Queen.

 

They stood there waiting, one minute, two minutes, three minutes before they saw the intruder. They were covered in black armor from top to toe, making it near impossible to distinguish any fact that could help them in the battle. The only thing they knew was they were tall and looked really muscular in the suit. They walked confidently through the corridor and was soon in front of the four. For a moment everything was completely still and quiet, before hell broke out.

 

Two fast swings from the sword and the two guards’ troughs were cut making them fall to the ground in a pool of blood, their armors making a loud cacophonous sound as they hit the ground. Before the King could think, the black Knight was right next to him but the Queen had been faster and put up a shield. The King stabbed at the Night but only hitting air as they had already moved. The Queen started mumbling spell after spell, helping the King in his attacks by making his sword stronger and helped protect him in his defence. He tried to shoot attack magic at the Night but to no gain as it seemed his armor was protected from magical harm. So he continued helping the King, who seemed to be having the upper hand with the aegis of the Queen.

 

The Night quickly understood that he had to take out the Queen first. They changed their tactics and started moving in a circle around the King. To their dismay the Queen was smart and saw through it and moved along the circle too. The Queen did not have much energy left, all magic had its price and battle magic was the most expensive. The Night gave up on moving in a circle and sprinted head on toward the Queen, dodging the King's blade and pushing him to the side, ready to strike the Queen down. What they hadn't counted on was the King's strength. He might not look like it but he was the strongest in the cavalry and wasn’t as affected by the push as the Knight thought. Right before the blade was going to hit the Queen, he pushed the Knight in the back, making him stumble forward, resulting in only the sword's hilt hitting the Queen. The force was nevertheless powerful and it knocked the Queen unconscious.

 

When he came to again the King was on the ground, blood running from his head, using his sword as protection with one hand on the handle and the other on the blade. The Queen unsteadily got up, taking one of the dead Guards’ sword and ran forward. He had almost no strength left but he knew what he had had to do. He had to fight, fight until he won or died trying, there were no other options. He slashed at the Knight, not even making a scratch. It was pointless really, but he had to get their attention away from the King. He made a jab toward the Knight whom now had their focus on the Queen. Then he sidestepped, parried and lunged again.

 

Repeating again and again he kept the Knight's focus on him but he didn’t get anywhere. He had to, or he would soon get to the point where he wouldn't be able to even lift the sword. He had analysed the Knight’s armor and found that there was nowhere he could do any damage, the parts imbricated each other. Although there was one way… When he had given the King's blade extra power it had damaged the armor, so theoretically speaking he should be able to give his own blade extra power and cut through the armor to make a weak spot. On the other side that would most likely drain all his power. But he had no other choice. He took a deep breath and started chanting. A blue light swirled around the blade making the Queen's face look grim and cold. One last parry and with all he had, he thrust the sword right into the stomach of his opponent making them fall back on the ground, blood seeping out from around the blade that stood right up in the air. The Queen breathed out and would have collapsed on the ground if the King hadn't caught him.

“Th- thank you, I'm fine” the Queen said weakly and pushed off the King's hands, but as soon as he had done that, he gasped in pain and fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. The King watched as if in in slow motion as the Queen fell and fury exploded inside him as he saw the Knight on one knee, blood dripping from his sword. The King acted without thinking, anger controlling him. Without problem the King went past the black sword and pressed the blade the Queen had left further, making only the hilt visible. The knight fell back, dropped his sword and gave up, but the King wasn't done. He pulled out the sword , angled it a bit and pressed it back in, turning the blade making the Knight scream before going limp. Just to be sure the King stabbed the Knight a few more times before throwing away the sword and rushing back to his Queen.

 

The Queen was in a bad shape, almost all colour had drained from his face, and he was only able to take short breaths at a time. The King kneeled next to him, carefully picking him up in his arms and starting to walk into the castle.

“Hey, it's okay now, it's okay. Stay with me.” The Queen's eyes fixed on the King’s and a weak smile formed on his lips.

“This” he said, just above a whisper, loud enough for the King to hear, before he closed his eyes and went limp.

 

   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 

The country was in mixed state of mourning and chaos. Everyone wondered what had happened in the castle and rumours spread like wildfire. Alfred knew he had to do something, but what? The late Queen had told him, when he just became King, to trust his instincts, that he was born for the role of king and he would know what to do. Although now his instincts told him to crawl into a ball and hide as he cried, but he knew he couldn't do that, he had to take care of his people. But he was so _scared_. Scared of what could happen. He hadn't left Arthur’s side for the three days he'd been bedridden thus far and he would not leave him until Arthur himself forced him away, and he knew there was a slim chance that would happen and a bigger risk it wouldn’t.

 

The doctor visited twice a day to check on everything and change the bandages over Arthur's wounds. Everytime Alfred saw them he started to cry, he couldn't hold it in. It was his fault. His fault Arthur was lying there, pale as a ghost, fighting to stay alive. He had been so brave, to fight someone twice his size without hesitation. Fighting… that was what he had been practicing these past months when he disappeared. Alfred had of course known Arthur had lied when he said he was reading in the garden; he had looked for him there, and this was the explanation.

 

A soft exhale turned his focus back to reality and he turned to see a pair of half opened emerald green eyes. They skidded around, taking in where he was. A few blinks and another look around before they landed on Alfred.  
“Artie, you’re awake!!” he exclaimed and threw himself into a tight hug around Arthur’s shoulders, careful not to touch his wounds.

“It seems like I am” a small but surprised voice sounded.

Alfred couldn’t hold it in, he started crying and they just lay there, Alfred whispering `you’re alive` over and over through his sobs.

After a couple of minutes Arthur gently touched Alfred’s shoulder.

“Alfred, love, could you please get off, I’m having a hard time breathing.”

“Ah, of course, sorry!” He quickly removed himself from Arthur and Arthur drew tried to draw a deep breath but grimaced in pain.

“Ah, how is it? Do you need anything? Water? Pain reducing spell? Wat-”

“No it’s fine Alfred, don’t worry”

“Don’t worry?! You almost died! Why did you do that, just throwing yourself in front of there and the only thing you say is ` _this`_ , what do you even mean by that? What would I have done if you didn’t wake up? I can’t rule this country, I don’t even know what I do everyday!” He sounded terrified and tears started falling from his eyes again. Arthur carefully sat up, pain shooting through his whole body, telling him to lay back down, but he didn’t listen.

“Alfred” he said soft but harsh at the same time which caught the attention of the other. “What I mean with ‘this’ is that that is my most important duty, saving the King. The Queen is dispensable, the country can manage without one, but the King is vital. When my father died, my mother and I did everything we could to keep the country together. It did not work; none of the other countries took us seriously, no one wanted to continue trading with us among other things. We don’t have what a King have naturally, we can’t give the country what it needs. That is why I did what I did, to save you and the country, for rather I die than you.” To this Alfred was quiet for a minute, thinking.

“That is total bullshit, I could never… I could never make it without you.”

“Yes, you would. Maybe not alone but you would have had help from great people.” This didn’t seem to help Alfred, rather it seemed to make him feel worse so Arthur sighed and continued. “Well, there is no need to think about what could have happened, we'll just have to figure out a plan for the future where none of us die unless of old age.” To this Alfred raised his head with a thoughtful smile.

“That sounds like a good plan.”

 


End file.
